"Grapes"

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"Grapes"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I started this painting with a dry brush, no mediums just a little of burnt umber on the brush.  What I like about drawing this way on the canvas it feels as if I was drawing with charcoal, my values are pretty easy to control.

Sorry for the yellowish tint of this picture, I had to recharge the battery of my big camera and resorted to the point and shoot camera.  I guess you can see from this picture that I filled in the background first, going from dark to light and also put dead coloring on the base.

Then I filled in the grapes and vase, in all these areas that I started to paint I think of going from dark to light and also making sure the forms turning according to the light.

Then I went in to the flower and had a lot of fun painting it.  I went really thick on the pedals, I love it when you can see the paint emerge from the painting I think it gives it a whole new dimension to it.  With the flower there was not much of big forms to model or the light turning it was just a play of light into light.

This is the finished painting, after stating the flower I went back to the base and added more of the lights.  When adding those lights to the base it ties in more with the grapes making the relationship more apparent.  Then I went in and filled in the little vase and clarified certain areas, I also treated the edges of the vase and grapes.  I went into the grapes and added hints of purple and light blues, kind of bouncing colors around, I had a lot of fun painting this one I hope you enjoyed it as well!

"Heirloom Tomato"

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"Heirloom Tomato"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I started with a dry brush again not using any mediums through out the whole painting, really trying to gain control of the paints without relying on the mediums.

After the rough drawing is done I went in and added the local colors, not diving into much with the intricacy of colors just stating a general feel.  I am also making sure the form is turning and the values are right.  The biggest thing in the first stage is making the form turn, if you put it off till the end you'r painting will never look right.

After the form is turning and I am satisfied with the general colors I start stating the background and the base.  I chose to have a black background so the colors of the tomato can be more vibrant, with the base I just put a general color not putting too much details yet.

I then started adding smaller shapes to the tomato, making sure the smaller shapes are turning with the bigger shapes.  At this stage I ran into difficulty getting the glowing colors that were hidden in the tomato, it seemed like they were trying to get out.  It was a challenge to convey that in the painting.

This is the finished painting, I added the darkest darks in the base and also clarified the colors within the tomato.  I went back into the base and brightened the chroma and value.  This painting was a lot of fun and challenging to do, I learned a lot from it.  Hope you enjoy!

"Golden Bosc Pear"

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"Golden Bosc Pear"

6 x 8 in

Oil on Belgium Linen Panel

I started with a dry brush, there is no medium used in these small paintings.  I have found that the painting dries much quicker when I use no medium.

I applied the local colors of the pear and formed the big forms first.  Not getting too much into the deep darks, just getting a general feel of the big form turning.

Then I went into the background and base, I made the line where the background meets the base a bit more blurry so the focus stays on the pear.  Then I went into the edges of the pear and blurred some areas and kept others hard.

This is the finished painting, I went back into the pear and added the smaller forms or details.  I reinstated the blacks so the form can be complete, I also lightened some areas of the base so it will flow better visually with the pear.  I hope you enjoyed!

"Red Plums"

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"Red Plums"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I started with a dry brush and did not go too detailed with the drawing, I wanted to add more details with paint rather than painting within the lines.

I then added the background when I was satisfied with the drawing, I also introduced the cast shadows from the plums.

Then I started with the first plum just indicating the basic colors or the local colors.  At this stage I apply the paint pretty thin so it does not get muddy and its easier to blend in the end.

Then I moved onto the second plum, as you can see from the previous pic I altered the drawing so the second plum was closer to the first one.  I don't know how I missed that with the initial drawing but I'm glad I caught it or it would have been a boring painting composition wise.  After modeling the form with the local colors I introduced more the darks in the cast shadows and also in the plums.

This is the finished painting.  I went back into it and started chipping away at the smaller shapes or the details, towards the end I apply the darkest darks to tie the piece together.  I kept the background rather simple, I really like how it works with this painting.  I hope you enjoyed!

"Kate"

"Kate"

18 x 23 in

Oil on Canvas

(Detail)

This painting I did for the Portrait Society competition, I really like how the painting came out.  My only dislike is how it came out in the picture it's not the same, I wish it was.  I am asking everyone if they can give me any tips in taking good shots of paintings, I believe thats my biggest thorn right now.  As far as cameras go I have a canon 40D, it's a great camera for all types of pictures.  There's got to be something else to it?
I just posted these new pics, I took the old ones down and replaced them with these new ones.  I like these much better I have been learning new ways to take better pics of my paintings, it's a fascinating world taking photos of paintings really challenging though.

Any ways this painting is of a good friend of mine, she was so nice to pose for me.  This painting was a lot of fun to do, I hope you enjoy!

"Habanero Peppers"

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"Habanero Peppers"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Board

I started with a dry brush, I took the drawing a bit further than usual which helped to get my local tones in there right placements.

I applied a very thin passage my first go around, I went from the mid tones to the lighter tones.  I did the same with the stems.  You can see that I left the lightest lights untouched, I didn't add any color to the area.  I figured there's nothing whiter than the canvas itself so it gives me a good indication how the lights will look in the final result.

I then proceeded and filled in the base and background, I applied thin paint to just get a general feel what colors I'll be playing around with.

I then put more information with the base and went around the peppers and handled the edges in different manners.  I went back into the peppers and started to add the smaller shapes work on the highlights and subtleties.  I was about to leave it in this stage and call it a day but thankfully my girlfriend got a look at the painting and said the dark edges of the peppers where to hard.  I agreed with her 100%, thats why it's a good idea not to work on a painting straight through, well for me it's not.  I think its better when I take a mini-break and come back to it with fresh eyes and see what I have to improve on.

This is the finished painting, I messed around with the colors in photoshop to bring it as true as I can to the original.  I think the original looks better but I guess that goes with any paintings you see in person.  This was a fun painting to do overall, I usually don't work on the weekends but today was just a laid back day and wanted to produce another little painting.  I hope you enjoyed it!

Thai Eggplants

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"Thai Eggplants"    
12 x 12 in

  Oil on Canvas Board

I started the same way as I usually do with a dry brush and took the drawing a little further.

Then I added the local color and did a little bit of big form modeling, primarily I keep it loose in this stage.  I did the same with the stem but did not add any of the mid tones or lighter tones, I figured with the slight hint of the darks should be enough to give it form.

Then I added the local color to the base and started the background as well.

After adding the local colors overall I then went around the edges of the eggplants and made some areas blurry and some hard.  I did the same with the base, then I went back into the eggplant and worked on getting the modeling right with the big forms.  If the forms are not turning no matter how much paint you put or highlights you add its just not going to look right.  After I felt comfortable with the big forms being modeled I then moved onto the stems, I applied the same level of attention as I did with the eggplant.

This is the finished painting, I went back into the eggplant and smoothed out some areas added a couple details that gives these little guys their character.  With this painting I was constantly pushing the edges further than what they were to give the illusion of going back into the distance and coming forward.  Usually I do not like having hard edges with my paintings, once you have a hard edge it becomes a highlight your eyes are constantly going to it.  Now don't get me wrong there are some areas in the painting where hard edges are a must, but you have to know when to use them.  Hope you enjoyed this one!

"Pepper"

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"Pepper"

6 x 8 in

Oil on Belgium Linen Panel

I started this one with a dry brush, and essentially I paint all these small paintings in this manner.  I use no mediums for these quick paintings, which has been interesting so far.

I love the beginning process of these paintings because I am not concerned with blending it too perfection, I just paint freely and try not going to tight.  

After I get it to a mid level I move onto the stem of the pepper.  At this stage I am introducing the local colors and modeling the bigger forms.

I then filled in the background and the base, again just keeping it loose to get the local color and model the big forms.

This is the final painting, I took the base further as well as the pepper.  I had a lot of fun rendering this painting, I learned a lot and how to keep things in a certain stage and take things further without looking too over modeled. 

"Holland Baby Eggplant"

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"Holland Baby Eggplant"

8 x 6 in

Oil on Belgium Linen Panel

Since I am not able to film my process, I have gone back to recording it through pictures.  I started the same way I have done all my other paintings with a dry brush to get a rough estimate where everything is going to be placed.

I would usually fill in the background before painting the subject itself, but this time I opted to just paint the pepper to get a rough feel of it.  The picture does not pick up the correct colors and value, but I did not go to dark in order to fill it in towards the end to avoid sinking in areas through out my painting.

As soon as the big form modeling is done with the pepper and stem, I then filled in the background with a light blue.

After filling in the light blue in the background I then covered the base where the pepper rests on.  This picture shows it darker than it needs to be, now I have all the information I need to go further and add the smaller forms and finish the painting.

This is the finished painting, I added a lot of smaller forms where it needed to be put.  You can tell the colors are really different from the previous pic, I put it in photoshop and brought out the true colors that the camera for some reason does not pick up.  I'm really happy with this painting and enjoyed painting this delicate pepper, hope you enjoy!